Defender of the Knights tells Peter Martini it’s about the passion not the cash.

IT’S probably hard to believe but Mark Applegarth started out in rugby league as a winger.

He was 14 or 15 at the time, a relative newcomer to the sport. Yet now, a decade later, he has proved himself to be one of the best forwards in the semi-professional arena, having been named in the 2009 Championship One Team of the Year and having swept the board in the York City Knights player of the year awards.

He has also proved himself dedicated to the Knights’ crusade, having turned down more money from rival clubs to stay at Huntington Stadium for a third year and help the renewed push for promotion.

Applegarth, who turned 25 last month, also admitted he began his sporting calling with the round ball, not the oval one. But he took quickly to the 13-a-side code, having one season at Eastmoor juniors before going to Stanley Rangers, from where he was picked up by Wakefield Trinity Wildcats’ scholarship.

“I used to be a football guy but started playing rugby when I was about 14,” said Applegarth, who grew up in Outwood, north Wakefield.

“A few of my mates used to play. We used to play any sport in school – football, rugby league or cricket – just to get out of lessons.

“I started at Eastmoor as I wasn’t good enough to play for Stanley. But they then wanted players and I was enjoying the game so joined them.

“I played on the wing, believe it or not. I always knew in my head I was a back-rower but there were a few good back-rowers at the club. I actually only scored one try on the wing – I got a lot more when I moved to second-row. Obviously now I’ve moved up to prop too.”

Others in that same team included former Knights stars Paul Hughes and Rob Spicer, both of whom are now with Dewsbury Rams in the Championship.

Said Applegarth: “Stanley were a good side and a lot of players got picked up by Wakefield’s development squad. I joined the scholarship, then the junior academy. I then got offered a full-time contract by (then head coach) Shane McNally. I still speak to Shane a lot – I owe him a lot really.”

It hasn’t all been plain sailing, however.

Applegarth made 27 appearances in Super League after first graduating from the Wildcats’ academy in 2004. But his 2006 campaign was blighted by a broken hand and 2007 by medial ligament damage which required surgery and a 26-week lay-off.

He had actually arranged a deal to stay in Super League with Harlequins after his Wakefield contract ran out, but that knee injury meant the Londoners pulled out of the agreement.

Instead he followed Paul March from Belle Vue to Huntington Stadium, March coming as York’s new player-coach for 2008.

Said Applegarth: “Marchy had just taken the job and asked if I wanted a season at York to get my confidence back up. We dropped down a couple of divisions but we didn’t expect it to be easy.

“I’ve said before I was a bit embarrassed by my performances that year. My head wasn’t in it due to an accumulation of stuff off the field, but I signed again for 2009 to prove a few people wrong and prove to myself I could do it.”

That proof duly came. Selection for the league’s All Stars team was followed by the Knights’ Players’ Player of the Year award, the Supporters’ Player of the Year award and The Press/K Walker & Co Player of the Year award.

He was also the Knight’s only ever-present in 2009, picking up two man-of-the-match accolades and the Press’ June Player of the Month gong amid an ultra-consistent personal campaign.

Yet he today insisted he wanted to do even better. “I still feel I’ve got a hell of a lot more to offer,” he said.

“I don’t like to stop still. Hopefully I can express that more on the pitch this year.”

That he will do it at York was agreed back in August with a new deal – and one which proved his loyalty to the club and its supporters.

Applegarth is one of only 15 players to be retained from 2009, and one of only two – the other being Danny Ratcliffe – out of the squad that started 2008 at Huntington Stadium.

No fewer than nine players have followed March to Hunslet Hawks following his controversial July sacking and subsequent switch to York’s Championship One arch-rivals, in the wake of which the Knights maintained some degree of constancy by appointing James Ratcliffe, previously the director of rugby and March’s assistant, as head coach.

“At the back end of last year when Paul moved, there were a few players who were unsettled,” admitted Applegarth.

“It didn’t affect us on the pitch because we were all professional but I knew it was going to happen.

“A lot of my staying was down to James Ratcliffe. I had a few offers, as I’m sure a lot of players did, but one thing that stands out for me with James is his desire to succeed and will to win.

“Not everything is about money. I took a pay cut to stay here last year and it was the same again.

“I could have gone to other clubs for a lot more money but that doesn’t mean you will be happier. Some factors are more important than money and working with people with the same attitude as yourself is one of them.

“The likes of Danny Ratcliffe, Lee Waterman and Richard Blakeway are of the same influence. Chris Thorman (the new player/assistant-coach) is the same. We’ve got a team of people who don’t like losing.”

He added: “I think the squad we’ve got in place for this year is stronger than last season. We’ve got possibly the best pack in the league as long as everyone turns up and plays well.

“We could maybe do with a couple more backs to put the pressure on those guys but I think we’ve got a great squad.”

As for the part he will play, and the possibility of another personal success story, he said: “I stated last year it wasn’t a case of me wanting to win this or that. I just wanted to do the best I could for the team, be consistent and prove to myself I can play at a certain level.

“It’s nice to get recognised with those trophies, but rugby league is a team sport. I was lucky enough to play in a good team where everyone worked hard for each other.

“My goals are again to be consistent and to take it up another notch. I’m sure other players will be thinking along the same lines and hopefully the Knights as a club can get the rewards.”